At this point, the general feeling regarding Juventus\u2019 month of February is something that doesn\u2019t exactly involve the kind of language that the bosses would like us to write within the body of this post. You know those thoughts, however, have been expressed offline, and that the reality of Juve\u2019s big second month of 2026 has been far from what they\u2019ve needed to see take place to get some serious late-season moment building.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In short, Juventus\u2019 February has been a massive letdown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
They\u2019re out of the Coppa Italia. Their Champions League hopes are on life support, if not on the brink of flat-lining entering next week\u2019s second leg. And in Serie A, the battle for fourth place sees Juve now out of the top four as we start to approach the point in the season where we count the number of games remaining on our two hands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
So after allowing 13 goals in their last four games and not winning any of them \u2014 almost like these two things are connected! \u2014 Juve return home to try and record a get-right kind of win over a Como side that is directly behind them in the Serie A standings. Both teams are coming off midweek disappointment in their respective fixtures, but the fact that Como is all of four points behind Juve in the standings is a reminder of just how big of a game this is both to simply keep pace with those in front of them at minimum and to potentially gain ground and get closer to the top four if anybody were to slip up this weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Saturday afternoon\u2019s fixture certainly has a delicate kind of tone to it considering what took place the last time Juventus were on the field and seeing one of their heaviest European defeats take place. The Allianz Stadium has been starting to sound a little bit like better days of years past, but the reality of the squad\u2019s current form could very well make for a return of the anxious kind of vibe that has been present in Turin the last few years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But hey, at least Nico Paz will be suspended after getting a yellow card against AC Milan on Wednesday, right?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
At this rate, any sort of good news is welcome. That\u2019s simply because there hasn\u2019t been a lot of good news in February. It\u2019s starting to look a lot like last February, with only a few short days to go before Serie A likely becomes Juventus\u2019 only point of concentration. That is, unless a minor miracle can happen against the same team that just romped to a 5-2 win over these same Juve players who are looking awfully tired at the moment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Ha, there is no rest when it comes to this game in The Year of Our Lord 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
So now as they prepare to play their sixth fixture within the span of the first three weeks in February, Juventus have to figure something out \u2014 and fast \u2014 to try and just get back on track and potentially back into the win column. What is that knowing that their depth is lacking and their most important players are either showing signs of fatigue, are banged up in more ways than one, both of those previous two options or just simply not available? It\u2019s hard to really say. But when it comes to what Luciano Spalletti can fix in the immediate future, there\u2019s really only one thing that can try and do.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Just get back on the horse. No matter how tired you may be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe acknowledge the latest results and now we have to decide what to do about them and how to react: it is our awareness of the team\u2019s strength that will tell us how things will turn out,\u201d Spalletti said during Friday\u2019s pre-match press conference. \u201cWe need to analyze the situation correctly and objectively, using this pain as a springboard to propel us upwards again. I spoke of three steps back after the match in Istanbul against Galatasaray. We discussed this with the players in a meeting, and I hope that these three steps back will serve as a running start to give us more momentum and a great reaction in the upcoming challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Juventus have the second leg against Galatasaray next up on the schedule. They have a trip to the Italian capital after that next weekend. The month of February has been unrelenting and is showing that the good things that Spalletti has done sometimes can\u2019t overcome the shortcomings that this team still very much has. But first they need to try and get back on track against a Como side that are still very much in play to get into European football next season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
They may be without their best player on Saturday, but Como are not going to be an easy three points that Juventus can bank on by any stretch. Nico Paz might be watching the game by the famous lake, but there are still plenty of other players that can do damage in Turin this weekend. We know that based simply on what happened these two teams played each other back in mid-October when Igor Tudor\u2019s final days as manager at the club were approaching.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
While Spalletti isn\u2019t in that territory when it comes to his job status, we are seeing the same kind of things go wrong for Juventus that we saw take place 12 months ago. There\u2019s probably more faith in Spalletti turning things around more than the previous two managers that Juve has had, but there\u2019s going to have to a massive amount of improvement \u2014 and fast \u2014 if Juve want to see that big matchup against Roma next weekend be one that has us feeling good about this squad again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It starts with what they do against Como on Saturday. And hopefully it just goes a little bit different than what we saw alongside Lake Como four months ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
- \n
- Juventus will be sporting their new fourth kit<\/a> for Saturday\u2019s game against Como. It was inspired by the shirt the squad sported during the 1996-97 season.<\/span><\/li>\n
- To the surprise of nobody around here, Pierre Kalulu still has to serve a one-game suspension for his undeserved double yellow against Inter despite the fact that just about everybody involved has said he didn\u2019t deserve any of it. So yeah, no surprise there considering what league this is and who runs it.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The man who would have stepped in for Kalulu \u2014 who won\u2019t be in Juve\u2019s starting lineup for the first time this season on Saturday \u2014 against Como is also injured, with Emil Holm picking up a muscle injury that will keep him out for at least a month.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Spalletti also ruled out Gleison Bremer for Saturday\u2019s matchup against Como, with the big Brazilian defender still very much in \u201cday-to-day\u201d territory and in a race to be healthy enough for the second leg against Galatasaray on Wednesday.<\/span><\/li>\n
- While Bremer has been ruled out, Spalletti said that Jonathan David will be back in the squad after missing the first leg against Galatasaray. He likely won\u2019t be in the starting lineup having trained separately all week, but it\u2019s at least an option off the bench for Spalletti during a time in which he has very little wiggle room.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Besides Bremer and Holm, the only two other injured players are Dusan Vlahovic and (of course) Arek Milik.<\/span><\/li>\n
- When asked about a potential change in goal, Spalletti reaffirmed that Michele Di Gregorio is Juventus\u2019 starter despite recent criticism about how he\u2019s played domestically and in Europe.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Two Juventus players, Weston McKennie and Manuel Locatelli, are one yellow card away from having to serve a one-game suspension. With Roma next up domestically, this feels like an important thing to note.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
\nNo Bremer. No real fullbacks available. (Well, technically there are, but they\u2019re not exactly defensive specialists, which feels a little bit of the purpose being defeated.) No really defensive stability of late.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nSo, yeah, Let\u2019s just go ahead and talk about somebody in defense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW BALANCE STADIUM, BERGAMO, ITALY – 2026\/02\/05: Federico Gatti of Juventus Fc during warm up before the Coppa Italia quarter-finals match between Atalanta Bc and Juventus Fc. Atalanta Bc wins 3-0 over Juventus Fc. (Photo by Marco Canoniero\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/figcaption>LightRocket via Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \nIf not for Federico La Penna\u2019s disastrous showing as the match referee last weekend against Inter, there is no doubt that the Federico who would be drawing the most amount of ire of a lot of Juve supports would be the one with the surname of Gatti. If only his form since coming back from injury had look as good as his hair is looking these days as compared to what his form has been over his past handful of appearances meniscus surgery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWith Kalulu being suspended and Bremer being ruled out for Saturday\u2019s game against Como, many expect Spalletti to switch to more of a back three setup that he used during his first few weeks as Juventus manager. And as a result of all of that, that would mean Gatti is back in the starting lineup for just his second start of the 2026 calendar year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nIn his previous four appearances since coming back into the fold in the new year, Gatti has looked \u2014 as you would expect from somebody who missed nearly two months due to knee surgery \u2014 rusty and far from how he played for much of last season when he was the walking definition of gritting his teeth through fatigue. But in those four appearances, Gatti has looked rusty and slow, and none was more representative of that after he came on for Bremer late in the first half against Galatasaray.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nAgainst a Nico Paz-less Como, Juve will still be under plenty of pressure because that is how Cesc Fabregas\u2019 squad wants to try and attack you. That means Gatti \u2014 along with Lloyd Kelly and likely Teun Koopmeiners if it is a back three from Spalletti \u2014 will be a busy man and trying to slow down a Como squad that is one of the highest-scoring teams in Serie A this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWe don\u2019t know how long Bremer will be out of action. But we do know that while he is out, Juve will need somebody to step up in his absence. Gatti seems like one of the biggest options to do that \u2014 as long as he looks more like the player from last season rather than the one we\u2019ve seen the last few weeks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWhen: <\/strong>Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nOfficial kickoff time:<\/strong> 3 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe, 2 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 9 a.m. Eastern time, 8 a.m. Central time, 6 a.m. Pacific time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nTelevision:<\/strong> No over-the-air or cable channels available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom or Italy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nOnline\/Streaming:<\/strong> Paramount+<\/strong><\/a>, CBS Sports Golazo Network, Amazon Prime USA, DAZN USA, fuboTV (United States); DAZN Canada; fuboTV Canada (Canada); DAZN UK (United Kingdom); DAZN Italy (Italy).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nOther live viewing options can be found here<\/strong><\/a>, and as always, you can also follow along with us live and all the stupid things we say on Bluesky<\/strong><\/a>. If you haven\u2019t already, join the community<\/strong><\/a> on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
- To the surprise of nobody around here, Pierre Kalulu still has to serve a one-game suspension for his undeserved double yellow against Inter despite the fact that just about everybody involved has said he didn\u2019t deserve any of it. So yeah, no surprise there considering what league this is and who runs it.<\/span><\/li>\n